Car-roof.



Patented Ma y 13, 1913 1 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

-UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIo I-I-ENIIRY A. HnIsrY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-ROOF.

Application filed January 22, 1912 Serial No. 672558.

T 0 allgwizom it may concern: Be it known that I, HENRY A. CHRIs'rY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementslin Car-Roofs,of whichthe following is a specification;

My present invention pertains to improvements in the construction of railway car roofs, its leadingandprincipal' aims and objects being to provide astructure of this character which shall be more thoroughly and completely. weather-proof and at the same time flexible, to compensate for inequalities in the movement or distortion of the car-body, than has heretofore been attained.

One feature of this novel construction resides in the ease and facility with which one or more of the metal roof'plates may be removed and replaced if for any reason it becomes damaged. The portions of the jcar-roof which require especial care in their construction ordinarily are the parts at the middle of the'roofand adjacent to or" above the side walls. In order to eliminate all troughs, the ends of the c'arlines at the sides of the car-body are bent downwardly, and cooperating with such carlines or roof supports, I employ roof plates having depending flanges along their edges accommodated in the troughs and resting upon the 'webs of the carlines, eachroof plate at its outer ends being turned. down over the side of the car-body'to facilitate the drainage referred to. In order to maintain these roof plates in place, I employ cap strips above the carlines-and suitable straps along the top portions of the car-body side-walls; but the association of. the parts is such that althoughthe. completed structure is rain and Weather-proof, "it possesses a suificient degree of flexibility to readily accommodate itself to any. of the ordinary distortions I Specification of Letters Patent. fatentetfillay 1913-" i and twisting'of the car body, withoutany c:

damage to the. parts.

In order that a thorough and complete understanding of this invention may be. had,'I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and to which reference should be had, a preferred embodiment of this invention, and in these drawings: Figure 1 is fragmentary side view of a car-body equipped with one of my improvedroofs'; Fig. 2 is a perspective .view on a larger scale of the same construction, parts'of the roof structure being broken away to more clearly indicate the nature of the construction; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the car-body on line- 33 of Fig-1 along its top portion through the. straps holding the edges of the roof plates in place; Fig. 4: is a perspective View of the lower or outer .end portion of one of the carlines; Fig. 5 being a side elevation of a fragment of. one of the roof plates indicating how its construction permits it to readily fit and co-,

operate with the carlines illustrated; Fig.

6 is a fragmentary vertical cross section through the car-body and roof; Fig. 7 illustrates in section the manner of attach ment .of the carlines to the car bodies in order to secure a firm and rigid frame structure, and Fig. 8 illustrates in perspective one of the brackets or gussetgplates fastened to each of the carlines and the ide walls to strengthen the roof structure and rigidly secure the carline --Q the side we 1'. I

By referring to the drawings, it will be observed that each of the cambered or bent channel carlines 10. 10, extend from one side-wall of the car body to the other, and is disposed with its 'opposite marginal flanges 11 and 12 upwardly extended. At

each end, the web of the carline as well as the outstanding flanges, are bent downwardly to provide the ears or attachment portions 13, which" rest 'against the outer face-0f the side-wall, with the flanges ex tended outwardly, as is clearly illustrated in the various views.

In order to brace the roof structure and assist in maintaining the carlines in proper relation with the side-walls, each end portion of the carline has riveted to the under face of its web an angle bracket member 14, having a depending flange or plate portion 15 wider than the width of the carline and bearing against the top' portion of the inner face of the side-wall, and in order to securely fasten the end of the car line in position bolts 16, 16, having countersunk nuts 17 pass through holes 18, 18 in the plate 15 and registering holes in the side-wall, maintaining the parts'rigidly associated. 'Another,; or central bolt 19 extends through the midsupport 22, which if desired, may be formed by riveting together, web to-web,.t'wo short sections of channel beams. These runningboard supports or brackets are narrower than the troughs of the carlines, leaving-a space at each side between the support and the flanges ofthe carline for a purpose hereinafter indicated. Connecting together these running-board supports, and indirectly fastening together the central portions of the carlines is a plate 23 rivetedorbolted'to the top surfaces of thesupports 22, such plate along its longitudinal edges, having downturned flanges 24 and 25. Above this plate 23 are crossv strips 26, to the tops of which are fastened the running-boards'or 'l'anks 27, 27. Each vroof-plate 28 is also 0 cambered or bent forin and extends from sidewall to side-wall, having'along its opposite longitudinal edges depending or downturned flanges 29 accommodated or received loosely.

in the troughs of the carline's, it being understood that the edges of these flanges rest upon the Webs of the carli'nes', and the flanges are of suflicient width to maintain the body-portion of the roof-plateabove the edges of the carline flanges 11 and l 2, so

that.the weight of such plates is supported by their flanges and is imposed directly on the webs of the carlines. These flanges 29 do not necessarily bear against. the inner faces of the carline flanges, but are desirably spaced inwardly away therefrom a slight distance, to give the rooftlie desired flexibili-ty'and capability of distortion or warping without occasioning. leakage. At the center of the car these roof-plate flanges pass-directly by the running-board supports,

beingloosely accommodated in the .troughs of .t e; 'carlines between such'supports and the carline flanges. At their opposite ends, each of the metal 1 roof-plates, as wellv as the 'mar a1 flanges, are bent downwardly.

xords, they follow'and. conform to flanges; preventing, rubbing of these 130 the top surface of its web a running-boardthe shape of the carline, and desirably be tween the outwardly projecting flanges of the carlines I fasten to theside-walls the wooden fillers or blocks 30, which, as is" clearly-shown in the drawings, are recessed or countersunk for the accommodation of being formed so as to project downwardly to some degree into the trough of the carline between the flanges of the adjacent roofplates, but the construction is not such as to bind these; flanges in osition or to prevent a reasonableflexibllity of the structure. The upper end of each of these cap strips 31, 32, is accommodated beneath the runnmg-boardsup'port 22 andfthe .downturned flange24'or 25 of theplate 23, such flange holding the cap in proper positionwith relation tothe roof-plates, to prevent its improper rise or elevation. At its other end each of these cap strips'has a downturned ear or attachment portion 33, the side flanges of the metal covering being omitted v side-wall, but are maintained'in place by. means of sectional straps 34, the overlapped ends 35 of which, as well asthe cars 33 of the cap stripsgare apertured in alinement at such end.

The outer edge portions of the roof-plates ,are 'not direct y fastenedto the car-body or register for the accommodation of the bolt 19, 'the latter, 'with its nut, passing through the bracket member 15, the-.car-body side-wall, the downwardly extended portion of the carline, the depending attachment ear of the cap strip, and the overlapping ends of the retaining. straps. By this simple means these various parts are securely and properly held iii place, but their removal,

if desired, is effected with facility and des-' patch. From this description of this desir-' ableembodiment of this invention, it should be apparent that the roof-plates are loosely associated with the carlines giving the roof structure the capability oi the distortion or twisting of the car-body due for example, to the uneven loading of the lading. Also the 'downturn'ed edge portions of'theroof-plates, since they are not side-walls, permit a certain degree of movement between the parts without dama e to the roof fstructureor occasionin'g lea age. The side flan es on these roof-plates are of sufiicient wid so as to hold the body of the plate above the topgedges of the car-line conforming to directly bolted or otherwise clamped to the two parts, and rusting due to the removal of the galvanizing which would be brought about if such a rubbing contact werepermitted, also the metal coverings 32 of the cap strips' 31 are not permitted to quite touch the top of the roof-plates for the same reason. In order to take out a damaged roof-plate, it is merely required to remove sary bolts 19. take off the corresponding cap strips and remove portions of t e. late 23 and running-boards 27, which may esirably be made in short'lengths to facilitate the removal. and replacement of damaged roof-plates then the injured roof-plate may be readily lifted out of place and a new undama d one substituted the parts being capab e of being replac in their origins positions without diflicult and at a comparatively small expense 0 time and enter While I have herein illustrated and eat ibed one desirable embodiment of the invention, I wish to have it understood that the invention is not limited and restricted to the precise and exact details of construction herein set forth, because this structure may be modified within comparatively .wide limits without departure from the substance of the invention, and without the sacrifice of any of its substantial benefits and'advantages.

Copies of this patent may .wardly over the neces -I claim:

1. In a car-roof construction, the combination of channel carlines disposed trou h-side upward, the ends "of such carlines inc uding their-outstanding flangis bein bent down- Tthe cardy si e-walls and sheet-metal roof-plates having ends downturned'over such side-walls and havin inwa'rdly extended flanges accommodate in the troughs of said c'arlines'and conforming to the shapes of such carlines including the 'downturned ends thereof, substantially as described;

2. In a car-roof construction, the combination of channel carlines disposed trou h-side .11 Ward, the'en'ds' of: such carlines inc uding t eir outstanding flange being bent downwardly over. the ;cardy si e sheet met'al roof-plates having ends downt ed over said side-walls and-having inwa y extended flangles' accommodated in the trough: ofsaid car i'nes and conforming to the s pea of such .carlines, and filler blocks disposed between the downturned ends of thereof plates'and the side wall, substantially as described;

- HENRY A. CHRISTY.

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1 1: Nair M. 'Hoxmr,

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be obtained tor ave eente eaeli, by addressing the commissioner of ta ents,

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